DEHRADUN: Uttarakhand chapter of Indian Medical Association on Monday wrote to Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami to disallow the proposal of Kanwar Yatra amid apprehensions of Covid third wave.
"Sir, after the first wave, we became off-guard and could not follow the guidelines of the central government delineated for this pandemic which was a gross negligence on our part and consequently lost several of our kins in the menace of the second wave of the Covid pandemic," said Dr Ajay Khanna, state secretary of Uttarakhand chapter of the IMA requesting the CM to 'disallow' the yatra.
The letter comes after CM's comments that God would not want people to lose their lives.
The Kanwar Yatra has become an issue one with the state government of Uttar Pradesh requesting the state government to allow the Yatra with a few restrictions.
The IMA secretary, on the behalf of the association, further added that the third wave of Covid pandemic is ready to knock on the door as per the statements of several specialists who wrote the letter, "Learning from our previous failure, we should not allow the devotees to enter our state and keep it safe from the third wave of Covid. Even our Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi Ji has today expressed concerns regarding our carelessness in following the Covid protocol."
Later in the day, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami reiterated: "Kanwar Yatra is a matter of faith. My decision regarding this will be taken keeping in mind people's lives. We cannot allow this pandemic to claim the lives of the people."
On June 30, 2021, the state government issued orders to cancel the yatra due to the ongoing Covid situation.
The state government had cancelled the yatra last year too in the wake of the epidemic. However, the Char Dham Yatra was allowed from June 2020 for state residents and later for residents of other states giving some respite to the sector.